Downside of U.S. hosting a World Cup

By all accounts, U.S. Soccer put on an impressive display for FIFA's World Cup bid site inspectors last week. In addition to showing off new stadiums in New York and Dallas, the U.S. bid group trotted out Michael Bloomberg, Emilio Estefan, Jerry Jones and Yao Ming to welcome the inspectors, who are visiting potential hosts for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

But not everyone is impressed. At the same time U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati was rolling out the red carpet, a fellow economist, Dennis Coates, rolled out a scathing op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, calling any predictions of a huge economic boost from the tournament "too good to be true."

To see the full argument about why hosting a World Cup could actually hurt the U.S. economy, plus read an exclusive interview with DaMarcus Beasley, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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U.S. National Soccer Team BlogWe're your regular source for all the inside info on the U.S. national team. Whether it's breakdowns of player pool developments, news and notes from the club soccer world and its impact on the American side, or game coverage, we'll bring you consistent, exclusive access and insight. Contact us with comments and tips at ESPNUSSoccerblog@gmail.com.

Doug McIntyreDoug McIntyre has watched or attended almost every U.S. national team game since Paul Caligiuri's "shot heard 'round the world" in 1989. He is a staff writer for ESPN The Magazine and has covered American and international soccer since 2002.